Jamming for safe consumption

Local musicians and industry leaders launched a media campaign in support of an effort to encourage the King County Council to allow sites where drug users can take substances under medical supervision.

Musicians Jenn Champion, John Roderick, SassyBlack and Sub Pop CEO Megan Jasper joined the project with the Public Defender Association. They will run ads about safe consumption sites in local publications, including The Stranger, Crosscut, KCTS9 and Real Change.

“As a teenager, I was an IV drug user,” Champion said in a press release. “Lack of means meant lack of access to clean needles and safe injection sites. When I look back on the many precarious and dangerous choices I made, when I felt like I had no choices, I am amazed at my luck.

“Not everyone is that lucky,” Champion added.

King County, like much of the country, has been impacted by the opioid epidemic. Overdoses kill 300 King County residents each year, according to the release.

Ashley Archibald is a Staff Reporter covering local government, policy and equity. Have a story idea? She can be can reached at ashleya (at) realchangenews (dot) org. Twitter @AshleyA_RC